Global Golf Post, June 20, 2016

U S OPEN globalgolfpost com JUNE 20 2016 B week If I play the easy holes at even par Im still top five Thats whats tough to swallow leaving this week is you do all this work on this course and it was the easy little iron wedge holes that tore me apart But I think thats just kind of bad timing on them PUTTER A CASUALTY Danny Willett still has the green jacket he won at Augusta and also the handsome trophy But the Masters champion no longer has the putter that helped him win his first major championship two months ago He broke it as he approached the conclusion of his third round of the U S Open on Saturday in a few moments of rage caused by his bad putting and all round poor play Willett used a wedge to putt with for the remaining holes Its now in two pieces Willett said Well have to get it refurbed and then I wont be using it again FOX MAKES STRIDES It continues to surprise how personally viewers take their television coverage when it comes to the U S Open Two years in its evident that whatever Fox Sports does isnt going to satisfy a core group of viewers even if the network sent everyone a dozen Titleists just for watching Its a new age and a new network Deal with it Get your Johnny Miller fix at the Open Championship next month Upgrading to Paul Azinger and Curtis Strange was a master stroke and this years coverage was far better than the Chambers Bay challenge One quibble Fox has too many people doing too many things but in fairness it has too many hours to fill WHITE WHALE We have reached the point when its fair to assume that Phil Mickelson wont win a U S Open Thats not saying he cant win one just that its getting more unlikely by the year If Mickelson never wins another tournament hes still among the top dozen or so players ever and among the most beloved players in any era He capped his career by winning the Open Championship at Muirfield three years ago and theres a good chance hell wind up like Arnold Palmer Sam Snead and Tom Watson one trophy shy of the career Grand Slam Mickelson will continue to captivate us because thats what he does Thats always been good enough BIG THREE DOUBT The way Spieth and Jason Day played the majors last year they made contending even winning look routine The first two majors this year have reminded us its not Majors are the toughest tournaments to win which is why Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have the exalted status they do Its possible Spieth Day and Rory McIlroy never win another major Its unlikely but coming into this season it felt like many took for granted those guys would add to their majors collection Perhaps one or two of them will get it done at Troon and Baltusrol It feels less certain now REGRETTABLE EXIT McIlroy stomped away from Oakmont without taking the time to comment on how a second round that had begun so promisingly four birdies in his first seven holes after an opening 77 had come apart so suddenly causing him to miss the U S Open cut McIlroy walked away simmering tossing his highlighter yellow cap to a fan and escaping Oakmont Did he owe the media and everyone else an explanation Not necessarily McIlroy is very good with the media sharing his thoughts and explaining himself almost always This time though he took a hot headed pass There have been times when McIlroy has acted regrettably He cited a bad tooth for walking off at the Honda Classic a few years ago He helicoptered a club into a pond at Doral last year Now a silent getaway from Oakmont Could McIlroy have taken 15 minutes to cool down then as one of the top players in the world playing one of the biggest events of the year taken questions for a couple of minutes He should have Take the high road rather than the back road RETURN ENGAGEMENT The USGA announced that the 2025 U S Open will return to Oakmont Country Club for a record 10th time And the 2026 Open will return to Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in New York Next years Open will be at Erin Hills in Wisconsin Shinnecock will host in 2018 and Pebble Beach is the site of the 2019 Open In 2020 Winged Foot is the host Torrey Pines gets a return engagement in 2021 and The Country Club in Brookline Mass will be the site in 2022 In 2023 the Open will be at Los Angeles Country Club for the first time and the Open will return to Pinehurst No 2 in 2024 l Ron Green Jr John Hopkins and Mike Purkey Danny Willett

View the Covers and the Table of Contents pages from every issue of this publication, all gathered together for easy browsing. Just flip pages and zoom as you normally do to see each issue's Cover and Table of Contents, then follow links directly to interesting content.